by Kate Evans
Pleasant View Elementary fourth grade teacher Summer McClintock has been chosen as a West Virginia state finalist for the Presidential Awards for excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
McClintock is also a finalist for the 2019 West Virginia Teacher of the Year award and is a National Board Certified teacher.
McClintock, who has taught for 12 years at Pleasant View Elementary, is now one of three West Virginia elementary school math teachers eligible to receive the PAEMST Presidential Award for math, the nation’s highest honor for United States K-12 mathematics and science teachers. The awards program is administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
“State finalists represent the most outstanding teachers West Virginia has to offer and serve as both a model and an inspiration to students and fellow teachers,” said Cathy Walker and Cindy Burke, PAEMST West Virginia Math Coordinators in a finalist announcement. The prestigious honor recognizes “truly outstanding teaching and leadership in mathematics.”
State level-finalists will be honored at the West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference in March, 2019.
A national selection committee consisting of mathematics educators, researchers, district officials and past awardees choose the national awardees. Teachers selected as Presidential Awardees will be notified by the White House, honored at a series of recognition ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and attend professional development events. They also receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation and a Presidential certificate. It’s a lengthy process and awardees may not be announced for months.
The national committee recommends up to 108 teachers to receive the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics or Science Teaching each year. Up to two teachers-math or science- from each state, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories as a group and schools operated in the United States and overseas by the Department of Defense Education Activity receive the award.
Morgan County Schools Superintendent Erich May congratulated McClintock on her state finalist status for the Presidential award.
“Summer is the standard of excellence. To watch her teach math and science is to know how these subjects should be taught in the elementary years. I myself have learned some math in her classroom, and I have learned a lot about what I should be looking for when walking through other classrooms and schools,” May said.
